Nuclide transmutation device and nuclide transmutation method

Abstract

The present invention produces nuclide transmutation using a relatively small-scale device. The device 10 that produces nuclide transmutation comprises a structure body 11 that is substantially plate shaped and made of palladium (Pd) or palladium alloy, or another metal that absorbs hydrogen (for example, Ti) or an alloy thereof, and a material 14 that undergoes nuclide transmutation laminated on one surface 11A among the two surfaces of this structure body 11. The one surface 11A side of the structure body 11, for example, is made a region in which the pressure of the deuterium is high due to pressure or electrolysis and the like, and the other surface 11B side, for example, is a region in which the pressure of the deuterium is low due to vacuum exhausting and the like, and thereby, a flow of deuterium in the structure body 11 is produced, and nuclide transmutation is carried out by a reaction between the deuterium and the material 14 that undergoes nuclide transmutation.

Description

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention[0002] The present invention relates to a nuclide transmutation device and a nuclide transmutation method associated, for example, with disposal processes in which long-lived radioactive waste is transmuted into short-lived radioactive nuclides or stable nuclides, and technologies that generate rare earth elements from abundant elements found in the natural world.[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art[0004] Conventional disposal processes are known that include, for example, methods in which large amounts of long-lived radioactive nuclides included in high level radioactive waste and the like are efficiently and effectively transmuted in a short time. Examples of these methods are those in which small amounts of nuclide are transmuted, such as heavy element synthesis by a nuclear fusion reaction using a heavy ion accelerator.[0005] These disposal processes are nuclide transmutation processes in which minor actinides such as Np, Am, and Cm included i...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017] According to the nuclide transmutation device having the structure described above, a pressure differential in the deuterium between the one surface and the other surface of the structure body is provided in a state wherein the material that undergoes nuclide transmutation is bound to one of the surfaces of the structure body serving as a multilayer structure, and within the structure body a flux of deuterium from one surface side to the other surface side is produced, and thereby an easily reproducible nuclide transmutation reaction can be produced for the deuterium and the material that undergoes nuclide transmutation.

[0027] According to the nuclide transmutation device having the structure described above, a mixed layer that includes a material having a low work function is provided on the structure body that serves as the multilayer structure, and thereby the repeatability of the production of the nuclide transmutation reaction is improved.

[0028] According to the nuclide transmutation device having the structure described above, the production of the nuclide transmutation reaction can be further promoted by transmuting the material that undergoes nuclide transmutation to a nuclide having a similar isotope ratio composition.

[0030] According to the nuclide transmutation method described above, a pressure differential in the deuterium is provided between the one surface side and the other surface side of the structure body in a state in which the material that undergoes nuclide transmutation is bound to the one surface of the structure body that serves as the multilayer structure, and a flux of deuterium from the one surface side to the other surface side in the structure body is produced, and thereby the nuclide transmutation reaction is produced with good repeatability for the deuterium and the material that undergoes nuclide transmutation.

[0034] According to the nuclide transmutation method described above, the material that undergoes nuclide transmutation is transmuted to a nuclide having a similar isotopic ratio composition, and thereby the nuclide transmutation reaction can be promoted.

Problems solved by technology

However, long-lived radioactive nuclear fission products are difficult to process by neutron irradiation in a nuclear reactor and the like, and for example, for Sr-90, Cs-137 and the like, which have a small neutron interaction cross section, disposal processing using an accelerator is applied.

However, in the case of carrying out nuclide transmutation using a nuclear reactor or an accelerator, as in the disposal processes in the above-described examples of conventional technology, there are the problems in that large-scale and high cost apparatuses must be used, and the cost required for the nuclide transmutation increases drastically.

Furthermore, in the case of processing, for example, Cs-137, which is a long-lived radioactive nuclide fission product, when transmutating Cs-137 radiated from an electron power generator of about one million KW to another nuclide using an accelerator, there are problems in that the necessary power reaches one million KW and a high strength and large current accelerator become necessary, and thus efficiency is low.

In addition, in contrast to a thermal neutron flux of about 1.times.10.sup.14 / cm.sup.2 / sec in a nuclear reactor such as a light water reactor, the neutron flux necessary for nuclide transmutation of Cs-137, which has a small neutron interaction cross section, is about 1.times.10.sup.17-1.times.10.sup.18 / cm.sup.2 / sec, and there is the problem in that the necessary neutron flux cannot be attained.

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